Funding for Vanderbilt star projector

By Tim Healy
tim.healy@newsday.com

The Suffolk County Legislature is to vote tomorrow on a measure to allocate $1.5 million to begin replacing the 36-year-old star projector at the Vanderbilt Planetarium in Centerport.

“The museum is in agreement that the projector is on its last legs,” explained Legis Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), “and we really have to move forward at this point.” Cooper, sponsor of the bill, said the planetarium had determined that the people coming for the star show generate about a half million dollars a year in revenue for the museum.

A second phase of funding, for $1.4 million, would be necessary in a later year to complete the project.

“It’s been in the budget for a number of years now,” Cooper said, “but frankly the funds got raided this year and got raided last year and they were reallocated for other programs at the museum.” Cooper said he expected the bill pass overwhelmingly.

The planetarium, at 180 Little Neck Rd., opened in 1971 on the grounds of the Vanderbilt estate. The main feature of the facility is a 60-foot Sky Theater, where the GOTO star projector can display the sun, moon, stars and planets. According to the museum, the projector can show 11,369 stars, the Milky Way and several deep sky objects, allowing the staff to recreate the visible night sky as seen under perfect observing conditions.